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Rep. Virginia Foxx

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of a group of true American patriots.

This past Christmas, a group of citizens in Taylorsville, North Carolina worked hard to communicate to our men and women stationed overseas that they are in our prayers and on our mind.

A civic-minded band of women in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary from the rural community of Taylorsville worked together to rally their community to send care packages to local Armed Forces members stationed abroad during Christmas. The sacrifice of military service during Christmas is often overlooked during a time when many of our brave military men and women are stationed abroad, making this effort all the more meaningful to the soldiers they aided.

Thanks to the selfless work of Margaret Milsap, Mary Lasky and Jeanette Stevenson, which was spearheaded by Mary Matthews, more than 80 care packages were sent to 30 deployed soldiers during this past Christmas. Taylor King Furniture, a Taylorsville business, generously footed the entire bill for the mailing of the 80-plus packages.

Together, the VFW Auxiliary and Taylor King provided a slice of home to 30 soldiers serving in foreign countries during Christmas. I hope their example of citizenship and patriotism during uncertain times serves to inspire many more Americans to show their support for our troops who fight for freedom every day.